Andy Murray announces retirement, saying Paris Olympics will be the last event he plays in his glittering career

Sir Andy Murray has said the Paris Olympics will be the final event of his stellar career.

The two time Wimbledon champ became, who was the first male tennis player to claim two Olympic singles gold medals, made the announcement on social media as he arrived in the French capital ahead of the Games.

Alongside a picture of himself on the Olympics podium in Rio, Brazil, in 2016 he wrote: ‘Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics.

‘Competing for Britain has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get to do it one final time.’

Murray won gold in London 2012 beating Roger Federer in the final and successfully defended his title in Rio four years later defeating Juan Martin del Potro.

The 37-year-old, who in 2013 ended a 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion at Wimbledon and won the trophy again in 2016, had previously said that he was unlikely to continue his career beyond this year.

The Scots hero received a star-studded, emotional farewell earlier this month at Wimbledon, the venue where he won two of his three major titles, following a first-round doubles defeat partnering his brother Jamie.

Murray, who had surgery on June 22 to remove a spinal cyst which was compressing his nerves and made him lose control and power in his right leg, decided he was not fit enough for the demands of singles competition at the All England Club.

Murray’s hopes of a final hurrah partnering fellow former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in mixed doubles at Wimbledon were dashed when she withdrew due to a wrist issue.

The tennis competition at the Olympics begins on July 27 and Murray, who made his Olympic debut in Beijing 2008, will play in both singles and doubles alongside Dan Evans in his fifth and final Games.

Murray has a mixed doubles silver from the London Games, where he partnered Laura Robson.

The former world number one resurrected his career after having hip-resurfacing surgery in 2019 but has struggled to make the latter stages of leading tournaments since and endured an ankle injury earlier this season in Miami.

‘I’m ready to finish playing,’ Murray had said at Wimbledon. ‘I don’t want that to be the case. I would love to play forever.

‘This year’s been tough with the ankle, then obviously the back surgery, the hip. I’m ready to finish because I can’t play to the level I would want to anymore.

‘I know that it’s time now. I’m ready for that.’

First Minister John Swinney was quick to heap praise on Murray, who was born in Glasgow and grew up in Dunblane, Stirling, following his announcement.

In a post on X, Mr Swinney thanked the 37-year-old for ‘an outstanding and inspiring career which has made a profound impact on so many’.

Murray’s mother, Judy, also commented in a post on X: ‘5th Olympics. Final tournament’.

■ Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport